Thanks for the Memories
by At the writer's block
Summary: 11 Reasons challenge I took over at livejournal, Eleven Reasons Why Terra Chose Slade .  I decided to forget the order, because I wasn't getting enough inspiration.  Rating is for later chapters.  ON HIATUS.
1. Gonna come back and take you home

**11 Reasons General Theme** 11 Reasons why Terra chose Slade  
**Character/s/Pairings** Slade/Terra  
**Fandom** Teen Titans  
**Rating** K  
**Prompt** 55. dazed / spacing-out  
**Warnings/Disclaimers** I own nothing!

* * *

Most of the city believed that at the first chance Slade got, he took Terra in. Actually, he didn't find her for several hours. It was almost morning before he found her staggering through the desert. 

"She must have gone without sleep, sir." Wintergreen said this calmly, as if he was mentioning a particularly bad patch of weather. "The tower is quite a ways away."

"Hmm." It didn't really merit a response. Driving for hours looking for a pissed-off teenager in a mostly-new Land Rover had that kind of effect on him.

"She's slowing down."

Slade actually had to bite his lip to keep from shouting a sarcastic reply. And then-

"Sir-!"

"I saw it," he growled, then jumped out of the still-moving car and began to run towards Terra, who had just fallen flat on her face. She didn't move as he got closer, and Slade had to slow down to keep from kicking sand in her hair. "Terra?"

She lifted her head an inch off of the ground, and looked up at him with a dazed look on her face. "Slade...?"

"Yes." He turned to see Wintergreen still sitting in the car a few dozen feet away, watching them.

"I've seen you...at...places. It was muddy-right?"

"That's right. Hang on-" He knelt next to her and tried to get an arm under hers. "Terra, I need you to just walk overe to the car. You've been walking a while, haven't you?"

"I ran mostly, then...then my legs wouldn't run. So I walked...until I fell down." She giggled to herself, at her own private joke. Slade got her to stand up, and she nearly fell over backwards again. She took a few steps, then pulled away from him. "Wait..."

"What is it now?" he asked, reaching for her arm again. She took an unsteady step back, and frowned. "Damnit Terra, what's wrong?"

"You're the enemy..." she said this mostly to herself, then she yelled out "You're-! You're the bad guy!" Then, when he didn't reply, she yelled, "You are!"

"If I was the bad guy, why am I helping you?" Slade held his hand out, and added in a kinder tone "I'm not your enemy anymore, Terra."

And poor, dehydrated, exhausted Terra, believed. She took his outstretched hand, and followed him to the car.


	2. Chapter 2

**11 Reasons General Theme** 11 Reasons why Terra chose Slade  
**Character/s/Pairings** Slade/Terra  
**Fandom** Teen Titans  
**Rating** K+  
**Prompt** 51. glare/stare  
**Warnings/Disclaimers** Screw order. Pre-Apprentice Terra.

* * *

The ceiling was shimmering, wavering slighty, as if with heat. But there wasn't heat here, in this cold stone room. The walls and ceiling were all rock, and the floor was matted down with those cheap blue things you usually find in school gymnasiums; the ones that maximize pain, especially if you've just been hit in the head with a dodgeball. 

Or, in Terra's case, Slade's steel-toe boot.

Slade's head cut into Terra's line of vision, blocking out the swaying ceiling (good thing too, she was starting to feel nauseous). He knelt beside her, held up a hand (which was shimmering now too) and said something.

"What?" Terra mumbled. Her voice sounded like it was very far away.

"How many fingers, Terra. Count 'em."

She squinted. It looked like four..or three... "Four?"

He sighed. "Close enough. Get up." She stood up shakily, breathing hard. Her vision was still hazy, and she nearly fell again. "After about an hour, we'll be done for the day."

"Slade..." she started, feeling that familiar gnawing in the pit of her stomach; it wasn't hunger, and it wasn't nausea. It was much, much worse. She tried to say, "I gotta stop," but she wasn't sure that she'd actually said it out loud

"Terra, I can't help you if you quit on me. I need to see what you're able to do."

"But you really need to listen to me..." she tried to say, but it came out more as an: "Aagh."

"Come on Terra, lets go!"

"Slade...I can't..." She put her hands on her knees as she bent over, trying to breath evenly. Her vision was cloudy, almost fading away to yellow...

"Yes you can, Terra. Enough of this, fight me!" He was either oblivious or pushing her too far...

"But I'm telling you the truth..." Slivers of gold were creeping in...

"FIGHT!"

**"NO!** Her fists and eyes exploded with golden light, and she began to float towarsd the ceiling. "**I meant it!**"

"Terra, calm down." He didn't sound nervous or scared of her at all, he actually sounded...dissapointed. This notion enraged her further, and she began to howl. Huge chunks of rock pulled out of the walls and began to swing around her.

"I **TOLD** YOU!" Terra screamed.

"I know-"

"I **TOLD **YOU **I WASN'T OKAY**!"

"I know you did, but I can't help you from down here." Slade walked over to the swirling debris, and calmly walked through it. Terra watched as he nimbly avoided the boulders, and she barely blinked when one hit him and he _did_ fall. He stood up again, stretched, and walked over so that he was standing beneath her.

"**I told you**," she said confidantly. Her head was scraping the ceiling.

"I know, and I apoligize, if it helps. Will you come down?"

"NO."

"Fair enough. You can hang around up there, having your little hissy fit. Just remember this: I am trying to help you. I needed to see just how much control you have. I haven't been beating you around all day just for fun. Although," he added, "It wasn't a complete waste of time."

Terra simply stared down at him, but the golden glow was fading, and she was slowly lowering herself down to the floor.

"Can you understand that? I want to help you learn to control yourself, so that you can live without worrying about how many people you'll kill by accident."

After a moments silence, Terra asked "You..._want_ to help me?"

By now, she was at eye level with Slade. Her irises were still gold, and her fists appeared to be sparking.

"Yes, I do." He returned her glare until, finally, she blinked. The last of the gold was gone.

"Thank you," she whispered, and dropped to the floor.

* * *

Tee hee. Hissy fit. I HAD to have that there. 

I'm Not Okay (I Promise)-MCR


End file.
